Refrigerator attachment.



No. 684,177. Patented ont. a, |901. w. E. BLUE.

vREFRIEERATIIIR ATTACHMENT.

(Application lad In'. 7, 1901.)

(No Model.)

NITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM E. BLUE, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK.

REFRIG ERATO R ATTACHNI ENT.

SECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 684,177, dated October8, 1901. Application tiled March 7, 1901i Serial No. 50,249. (No modeh)T all wwnt t muy concern:

Be it known that LVILLIAM E. BLUE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Refrigerator Attachment, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to refrigerators in general, and moreparticularly to draining attachments therefor, the object of theinvention being to provide a device which will be so situated as tocatch the water of condensation in the refrigerator and to carry itaway, so that the provision-compartment in the lower portion of therefrigerator will .be kept free of excess moisture.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a specificconstruction of the attachment as will permit'of its adjustment tomodify the circulation of air in the refrigerator, additional objectsand advantages being apparent from the following description.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a vertical section of the refrigerator, the drainingapparatus being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the tilting water-sheds.Fig. 4 isa vertical section through one end of a watershed and showingthe arrangement of a spring-pressed trunnion.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a refrigerator 5,such asis used in meatmarkets, and in the upper portion of which is disposed anice-rack. This ice-rack comprises sills 6, having cross -pieces 7 fixedthereto, and these cross-pieces are cross-sectionally triangular and arearranged with their bases inverted, so that there will be presented aflat upper surface to receive the ice cakes, while the lower sides ofthe cross-pieces will converge downwardly to form a drip edge 8. Thusthe water that drips from the ice will fall from the cross-pieces intransverse lines.

As is well known, in a refrigerator of this class the moist and cold airfrom the ice is condensed by the upwardly-moving warmer air from thebottom of the refrigerator and that this condensation takes place at apoint just below the ice-rack, Therefore if water sheds or drains aredisposed below this point of condensation the water of condensation willfall thereon and may be conveyed from the refrigerator withoutexcessively moistening the air in the lower portion of the refrigerator.To provide this mechanism, sills 10 and 11 are mounted against the innerfaces of the opposite walls of the refrigerator and below the said pointof condensation, and in these sills are disposed or formed bearingslots12,which are disposed oppositelyin pairs to receive the trunnions of thewater-shedding plates. These water-shedding plates consist each of asheet of metal, which is bent to form two members 14 and 15, which lieat a right angle to each other, and the member 14 has its lower edgebent upwardly to form a trough 16, into which will drain any water thatmay fall or form upon the member 14. Any water that may fall or formupon the member 15 will drip from the lower edge thereof. The end edgesof the members 14 and 15 are turned upwardly, as shown at 17 and 18, andthe portions 17 form ends for the trough 16. In the angle between themembers 14 and 15 are disposed trunnions 19 and 20, which projectoutwardly beyond the ends of the members, and said members are of suchlengths that they will it snugly between the sills 10 and 11, so as toswing therebetween, the trunnions being held engaged with the bearings12, lying mutually opposite, by suitably-disposed springs 10. In thepresent instance three of these water-shedding devices are shown, andthey are so hung upon their trunnions that the troughs 16 lie beneaththe edges of the adjacent members 15 to receive the drip therefrom, orthe edges of said members 15 may project over the trough, so as topermit the Water therefrom to drip onto the members 14, down which itwill of course run to the troughs.

The water-shedding plates are tilted all in the same direction, so thatone end of each trough is lower than the opposite end, and the lower endof each trough is provided with a drain-pipe 2l, disposed to dischargeto a tilted trough 22, secured to the wall of the refrigerator and fromwhich runs a wastepipe 23.

At one end of the series of water-shedding plates there is mounted aswinging plate 24,

loo

having the same form as the member 14 and provided with trunnions whichengage bearings in the sills 10 and 11 close to one side of therefrigerator, while at the opposite end of the series a plate 26 isfixed to the wall of the refrigerator and is disposed to discharge tothe trough 16 of the adjacent member 14. To catch the water ofcondensation that may form upon the side walls of the refrigerator,slanting plates 27 and 28 are attached thereto above the sills 10 and 11and project with their lower edges over the ends of the members 14 and15, so that the water therefrom may drip to said members.

By swinging the water-shedding plates upon their trunnions theinterspaces therebetween may be varied in width to vary the circulationof air from the top to the bottom of the refrigerator, and vice versa.To thus tilt the plates and hold them in tilted positions, shift-bars 29are pivoted to the ends of the troughs 16, and at one end of each ofthese shift-bars is an eXtensible section 30, held adjustably by aset-screw 3l, passed through a slot therein and engaged with theshift-bar. This extensible section rests with its end against the wallof the refrigerator and holds the plates against pivotal movement in onedirection under the iniiuence of gravity, the plates being so weightedthat their tendency is to move this extension against the wall of therefrigerator. By lengthening the shift-rod by adjusting the extensionthe plates are moved pivotally and are held in such adjusted positions.It will be thus seen that the space between the icerack and thewater-sheds is in elect a condensing-chamber and that the cold airtherefrom passed downwardly between the shedding-plates and into thespace therebelow for the provisions.

To veutilate the refrigerator, a vent-pipe 35 is provided of suitablelength, and to eX- clude warm air that might enter through the drainpipe 23 said pipe has the turn 24 formed therein, which is adapted tohold a quantity of water, and thus form a water seal.

Asis well known, natural ice often contains much solid matter that isfrozen therein, and as the ice melts this matter drops down into therefrigerator. WVith this construction, however, the plates catch theseimpurities, and they may be readily removed therefrom without removingthe plates from their supports.

Furthermore, the drain-pipe above the turn may be removed to permit of Yl cleaning out. The plates thus have three functions-to catch and conveythe water of A Y 6o 'Y condensation, to catch the solid matter thatwould otherwise drop upon the provisions in the provision-chamber, andto modify the airi Y j V currents in the refrigerator.

It will be understood that in practice modiflcations of the specificconstruction shown may be made and that any suitable materials f seriesof drain-plates each consisting of two Y downwardly-diverging membersone of which has a trough at its lower edge and disposed to receive thedrip from the loweredge of 751Y f the opposite member of the succeedingplate,

said plates being mounted for pivotal movement, and a shift-rodpivotally connected'V with the plates to move them pivotally, said l 'Yrod having an extensible end section adapted to rest against the wall ofthe refrigerator to hold the plates at dierent points of their pivotalmovements.

2. The combination with a refrigerator of a series of drain-plates eachconsisting of twoY downwardly-diverging members one of which has atrough formed longitudinally of its lower edge and disposed to receivethe drip from the lower edge of the opposite member of the succeedingplate, said plates Vbeing mounted for pivotal movement, a shift-rodpivoted to the plates, and means for holding the shift-rod in itsdifferent adjusted positions to hold the plates with their members Yvariously separated to vary the circulation of air in the refrigerator.

3. A drain-plate for refrigerators comprising two members lying at anangle to each other to diverge downwardly, one of said f members havingits lower edge turned upwardly to form a trough and both members havingtheir end edges turned upwardly/,a drain -pipe at one end of the trough,and trunnions disposed in the angle of the two members.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in' the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. BLUE. Witnesses:

WM. S. PIERCE, J. E. RUTLEDGE.

